


The Other Side Of The Looking Glass

by MelodyoftheVoid



Series: Fading Reflections [10]
Category: Invader Zim
Genre: :), Angry Gaz (Invader Zim), BAMF Gaz (Invader Zim), Bad Ending, Blood, Body Horror, Character Death, Death Wish, Dib is... there. Technically., Dib no longer wants to be kind of there, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Magic Mirrors, Mind Control, Revenge, Zib Makes Some Life Choices™
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29297157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodyoftheVoid/pseuds/MelodyoftheVoid
Summary: ~An empty mirror only shows what's left inside~
Relationships: Gaz & Zib | Zim Number 1, Gaz & Zim (Invader Zim), Gaz/Tak (Invader Zim)
Series: Fading Reflections [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817320
Comments: 26
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> :)

The group moved swiftly through the streets of Tierras, careful to keep close to the shadows. Any slip up now could spell doom for the group, and for the mission as a whole. There was too much at stake, too much riding on the leader as well. Her burdened heart sinking at every patrol that lingered just a moment too long. It did little to soothe her already fraught nerves.

But killing a king was no easy task to begin with. 

Luckily, Gaz knew these streets like the back of her hand, and she knew that Zib’s spells didn’t make for the most perceptive of guards. Still, looking up at the castle she once called home, at the darkened windows and hazy silhouette only illuminated by the faintest sliver of moonlight, she couldn’t help but worry. 

She’d tried and failed so many times before to set things right. 

Curse Zib for his madness, his greed. Curse her father for driving him away. And curse her for not seeing the signs sooner. 

Shaking her head, Gaz signaled for Tak to step out. Everyone was in position. It was time to get going. 

The former Irken bodyguard strolled out onto the street, casual as could be. Of course, she was the only one on the roads; curfew had a tendency to kill the nightlife of a city. With all the nonchalance in the world, Tak whistled a small tune and made sure to catch the attention of everyone in the area. She ignored the various questions shouted by the nearby guards, instead guiding them towards the band of rebels. 

More and more men, eyes glazed with blue gathered. Their movements slightly slowed under the enchantment. Before any of them could make a move the trap was sprung. Gaz leapt forward, swinging the flat of her blade against the man’s helmet, dropping the man in an instant. With each new opponent, she had to remind herself to keep the blows nonlethal, to refrain from fatal strikes.

These men weren’t in control. They just were unfortunate enough to stay around long enough for Zib to figure out how to control more than 3 people at a time without immediately giving himself an aneurysm. The sooner she could fix this mess, the sooner they’d get their lives back. 

She advanced in the direction of the castle, her and her team making quick work of the soldiers around them. Quantity did really reduce quality. Her… not brother. That’s not what he was anymore. Zib, the king would’ve been better off with keeping that tin can around. At least that thing could fight. Too well perhaps, but that was long beside the point. 

Inch by inch, street by street, the party approached the gates, locked tight with iron. Some thought it was to keep the peasantry out, but Gaz? She thought it suited the madman. It was a cage of his own making, unnecessary and hideous. A stain on what should have been. 

And she was happy to put the beast in that cage out of its misery. 

She slipped the key stolen from the watchtower into the lock, creaking the gate open just enough for the rest of her party to slip through, splitting into their predetermined teams, allowing the royal to make her way to the throne room. 

Gaz’s pace slowed as she entered the castle, a bitter nostalgia overtaking her drive. Her breath hitched at the royal portrait hanging in the main doorway, the visage of her lost brother slashed through, leaving only the young faces of her and Zib to stare out at the world. Traces of Dib could be felt in the air, in the memories of days spent running through the halls with wooden swords. Him knocking over a vase while chasing Zim. The first time she’d caught the couple enjoying each other’s company, in both senses. Dib lingered here, and it ached. 

For once, she was glad to be alone with her thoughts and her grief. She could not afford to cry during the many meetings they’d spent organizing each and every supply raid, strategic strike, the hours laboring over this very mission. She couldn’t look weak when the people spotted her, a heroic figure working to take back her kingdom from a tyrant wearing her brother’s face. Not even when word of his deeds and the lives lost to neglect spread like wildfire, kicking up support but weighing her down all the same. 

Here though, she could for a moment allow it. Stray tears ran down her face for the first time since the wedding, and she whispered a small apology. Gaz had insisted on going alone for the simple fact she needed this. That, and she couldn’t risk losing the rest of the resistance if this encounter went south. Zib was  _ her _ responsibility. 

It seemed the king was of a similar mindset, as the corridor was completely empty, save for the statues and armor stands on the walls. Gaz eyed each of them with suspicion, but found nothing abnormal about them. Maybe he’d reached his capacity with the guard and didn’t bother constructing another enchanted suit. Who knew. 

Did he know that she was coming? That this was to be their final confrontation? Or did he believe himself invincible, that he had no need for guards? 

A sudden flood of light from the previously unlit sconces caused Gaz to stop, raising a hand and squinting at the abrupt change. So he did know she was here then. Fantastic. He had even gone through the trouble of making the artificial fire a sickly purple, providing enough light to see but not enough for color to grace the hall. But it was enough to make out her target.

A hunched figure looked up from the throne, the light from the flames glinting off the glass of his crown. 

“Zib, I take it you’ve been expecting me.”

“I have dear sister.”

Gaz snarled, “I told you before, you’ve lost all right to call me that. You are no family of mine.” 

“You wound me,” Zib stood up slowly, a hand bracing on the side of the throne, “You aren’t still bitter about losing are you?” 

“Well  _ maybe _ I wouldn’t be as furious if you hadn’t murdered Dib in front of me!” 

“Well, part of Dib. You really thought that I wasn’t aware of your little plan didn’t you? I must say that- ” 

A sword cut off the king before he could finish, Zib barely dodging the strike as Gaz drew back once more. 

“You cut me off, and you didn’t even greet Zim, the nerve.”

“You and I both know that’s not Zim.” 

In truth she didn’t want to look at Zim, the faint blue glow of his eyes just barely piercing the gloomy atmosphere surrounding him. Even as Zib drew his own sword, crackling with arcane energy, Zim merely stood beside the throne, placid and idle. Gaz focused back on Zib, meeting his blows with her own, pushing him further back, never letting him breathe for even a moment. 

Still that smug grin never faltered, not even for a moment. Of course he had some other plan. He’d had one at the wedding, schemes within schemes that left her and Tak fleeing for their lives from the guards. The sound of shattering glass ringing in her ears for weeks afterwards. She still heard it in her nightmares. 

Still, she had a job to do, and no amount of reminiscing would change the ending of the wedding. She could avenge her family here and now. Gaz managed to cut Zib’s hand, and knocked his weapon out of his grasp. Another blow, this time across Zib’s face, sent the accursed crown flying to the floor, metal clanging against the stone in the now silent hall. 

“Enough, Zib. You’ve caused too much harm, too much damage to this kingdom to continue to be its ruler. Surrender, and I might consider not removing your head from your shoulders. Though you would have to beg for that mercy.”

“Hmm, no. I don’t think I will. There’s one more thing that you’ve missed while you were away dear sister. I can’t believe you didn’t notice him when you entered.” 

“Him?” Gaz’s gaze followed where Zib gestured, “A mirror. Hysterical. You don’t get tired of looking at your own disfigurement day in and day out?”

Zib chuckled, “Oh I'm not looking at me, dear Gaz," his voice turned sickly sweet, a mocking croon directed toward the elaborate decoration, "Oh brother.”

Gaz almost dropped her sword as a figure appeared in the glass, horror extinguishing her fury in an instant. It was Dib. Yet it wasn’t. All life was stripped from her brother, and even though there remained some color, the fading halted from when she’d last seen him, no spark resided in his eyes. Not even the slightest hint of recognition of his sister save for the faint tears glistening in the dim firelight as they glided down his face. 

“W-what. What is this? I thought he- your crown-  _ Zib, what did you do?”  _

Zib shrugged, a motion far too relaxed for the atrocity he’d committed, also taking the opportunity to right himself while Gaz stared, unable to look away from Dib’s face.

“Well, since I was able to stop your little ‘transfer’, Dib’s soul was what was in that hand mirror. Most of it at least. Might still be some in the shards, who knows. But, there was just enough left in the study to make use of. He used to talk about me being his advisor, but I think this arrangement suits him far better. Mirror?” 

Gods he didn’t even use Dib’s  _ name. _

“Yes your majesty?”

“Say hello to your sister won’t you? And show me the intruders while you’re at it.” 

“Greetings Gazlene Membrane,” the image of Dib flickered away, revealing the rebels sneaking through the halls, “They appear to be working though the main hall, most of the guards are incapacitated or subdued.” 

“Ah well, if I deal with this they won’t be much of an issue. That will be all.” 

Gaz shook, furious tears streaming down her face as the empty echo of Dib's voice tore open the still healing gash in her heart. 

“You- you  **_monster_ ** **.** How could you- How fucking  _ dare  _ you-” 

“Would you have preferred I shatter him too?”

“It would have been far kinder than this! What are you even doing? How long do you plan to exhaust yourself? How long will you keep Zim like this? Is this how you plan to spend the rest of your days? Surrounded by mindless puppets?” 

“And what does it matter to you?”

“BECAUSE THIS IS MY HOME! Zim is- was my friend, these guards were my friends, Dib was my  _ brother.  _ These are my  _ people _ and you do not have the right to use them like this!”

Zib sneered, “Here I thought for a moment you were worried about me.” 

Gaz readied her sword letting out a snarl of her own, “I’m amazed you haven’t dropped dead already. You look like shit.” 

“Oh shut up.”

A flick of the wrist and Zib’s own blade rematerialized, the king readying for her attack. Gaz wasted no time in striking, lunging forward, meeting his weapon with her own, the clash ringing in the otherwise silent room. Former siblings held nothing back, not yells of rage, nor unhinged laughter. The avenger and the madman, fighting for what little they each had left. 

Gaz’s foot, as she dodged a wild strike to her left, crushed something on the floor, something metal. The crown. Her heart stopped, and her attention diverted for just long enough that Zib’s sword pierced her side. Gaz stumbled, pressing her off hand to the wound and defending from the flurry of blows forcing her back. With a wave of dizziness, she fell, staring up into Zib’s crazed eyes. There was no sign of intelligence, of the brilliant prince who dazzled the court with his wit and charms, no. There was only an animal backed into a corner, lashing out in frenzied desperation. Manic satisfaction at another obstacle removed.

“Farewell Gaz.”

Zib froze just as his sword reached its peak, muscles tensing mid-swing. Leaving him open and vulnerable, his face contorted in pain. It was now or never. Gaz clutched at her own side, wincing at the ache but pushed forward regardless. She whispered one last remark, a selfish prayer. 

“I should have done this when I still had a brother to lose.”

“Wait-“

Sharpened steel passed cleanly through Zib’s abdomen, jutting up through his back. He let out a choked sound, blood trickling from his mouth in stark contrast to the river pouring from the wound. He stared up in shock, for a moment resembling the young boy she’d playfully sparred with before it’d all gone wrong. 

Though he never looked quite this scared back then. 

“G-Gaz-“

“Save your breath for whoever will see you to the next life. Your time in this one ends now.”

Zib went limp as Gaz’s pulled her sword back, unable to suppress her shudders when the sound of the wet squelch reached her. She’d only had to kill a handful of times, but this felt wrong even despite her anger. As often as Gaz told herself that Zib was dead to her, that she didn’t care, when his last breath left him, she couldn’t help but hold him close. 

It’d been years since they’d embraced. Any of them. 

In a way it was a farewell Dib too. 

Letting go of Zib’s corpse, Gaz gingerly lifted the crown from the floor, looking at the shards, then to the larger mirror, and the prince shaking himself awake, dazed but aware. Or more aware than he had been at least. 

There were so many pieces to pick up, so many people who still needed her help. Gaz was the only one who could rule now with Zib gone, the only one who could take his place and try to fix the damage he’d wreaked upon their land. 

Killing a tyrant was one thing, what came next was another. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How much of Dib is in there? Zib knows. 
> 
> He wishes he didn't.

It started as it always did.

Every night, without fail, when ~~if~~ Zib managed to down enough sleep elixir to finally quiet his mind, to try and sleep hard enough to not dream, he always saw the same. Damn. Thing.

It was that mirror. That prison he displayed like a trophy for only himself and Zim to see, a piece lovingly crafted and ornate. Once it'd been a satisfying sign of his victory. He hated it. Especially now. When the image refused to leave him alone. 

“Zib- Zib please- please I can’t-“

Hiccuped sobs and cries left Dib, or the pieces of him visible on the other side of the glass. His fists torn from slamming on the barrier over and over, never ceasing. The wounds leaking a silvery fluid. Eyes a ghostly white.

“Let me go- why won’t you let me go- I’m sorry _please_ it hurts-“

“Shut up. Shut UP! IF IT HURTS SO BAD THEN WHY ARE YOU HERE? YOU’RE DEAD. GONE. YOU DON'T EXIST ANYMORE, I WON! DO WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO AND LEAVE!”

It was the same answer he shouted every time, with nary a variation. And like before, like always, Dib cried. He wailed and howled, trying to break through.

“Please- I don’t want to be here- let me out-“

“NEVER!”

  
“JUST LET ME DIE”

He hadn’t said that before. Zib took a step back, watching the shards of Dib try and fail to put themselves back together, forever broken into pieces. For a moment there was a flicker of amber, a solid somber image. But it was only for a single second and the cracks quickly returned once more. 

“I don’t want this anymore- Zib please...”

"D-Dib..."

"Let me go... let him go... it's not- is it worth it Zib? Is it worth this..."

A hand on his shoulder tore the king from his nightmare, his head pounding. An odd wetness trickling down his face. Tears. He shook his head, dismissing the terrified servant. Zib arranged himself as per routine, though he hesitated when he reached for the crown. The plea of final freedom echoing in his head. Scowling, Zib set it on in its rightful place. What a useless thought. 

When he arrived to the throne room, nothing was amiss, Zim was in place, the guards at full attention, all perfect. When he looked to ~~Dib~~ the mirror, he saw only the stiff, awaiting figure he always did. So it was nothing. As usual.

But if Zib had looked closer, the faintest of tears glistened behind the empty vessel of the mirror. The slightest whisper passing past an unmoving face. 

"Please." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little fucked up bonus bit. Please enjoy <3

**Author's Note:**

> At last. It is here. Hope you enjoyed. Credit goes to Chowy and Panda for giving me the juice to finally get this thing done. F in the chat for poor Dib lmao. But this was the razor's edge that Zib danced on in "This Day Aria", the fate he so narrowly avoided. Things may not be great for him in the main verse, but at least it's not this... But this was fun!
> 
> For me anyways.


End file.
